The Harsh Realities of Education

One of the classroom buildings

The block of school buildings

Wednesday was most likely the most exhausting day I have had since being in South Africa.  At the same time, it is the one that made me remember why I am here and why I am passionate about education.

My colleague Scott, who has been in South Africa on and off for three years on a  fellowship to help teach English to students at the high school level, was nice enough to invite me to the school he visits twice a week so I could experience a day at a township school.  The school is located about 1 1/2 hours away from Potchefstroom in a small little town called Ottosdal and the school is Realeka Secondary School.   Realeka is situated in the middle of the township and a very rural community so the students come from the surrounding areas.  The school houses about 1000 students, grade 8 to12.  However, each year the student population declines (400 9th grades, 300, 10th graders, etc.) after the 9th grade because students in South Africa are not required to attend school after that.

Students during lunch break 

Buckets for the toilets in the main building.

The students are in class for 10 periods a day, 35 minutes each (not enough time for learning), with an hour lunch break.  The students stay in one classroom all day and the teachers move around.  Most days the school has basic electricity, no heat, and no water (see the bucket picture for the bathroom).  The doors to the classroom do not close and the windows are broken so the room is colder than it is outside. On Wednesday, it was really cold and windy and lunch was not being served at the school (there is no cafeteria just a little shack that offers food) so many students did not come to school or left after lunch.  A 10th grade classroom I entered had 30 students at the start of the day and by the last period there were 16.  Many of the teachers I met today are nice people but they do not teach.  What I mean by that is that they do not plan for class so they go in unprepared, show up late to class, don't show up at all, yell at students for the entire period for not knowing the material (which they had not been assigned). The principle does not lead the school, he is simply in the position because of politics and in one class I observed the teacher left the room take a phone call and had the students copy correct sentences off the board for 25 minutes.  Even more disturbing, after lunch (there were 4 periods left), I walked by 6 classrooms, where there were no teachers present during the middle of the class.  It was heart wrenching to see. I asked one student how he felt when a teacher did not show up to teach the class and he responded "pretty bad."  He also said he is aware when the teachers do not prepare either (today I saw 4 teachers and 3 had not prepared).

A classroom

Broken door, broken window,
chalkboards falling off the wall 

In South Africa, there are 11 recognized languages and one of the problems that comes with that is that many times English is not the home language so they learn it as a subject or are taught it once they enter school (bilingual idea).  However, many of the teachers do not speak English to the students and conduct most of the classes in Sesthwana, in the case of this school (this puts students at a great disadvantage both for school and for their future education).  In August the government administers a Grade 12 test (Matriculation Exam) for all seniors.  It is given in only two languages, English and Afrikaans, so the students who do not speak either as their first language are at a grave disadvantage.  This is why many of the black students in South Africa do poorly or fail their exams, are at a great disadvantage if they go to college or in many cases they do not continue onto college or any kind of higher education.

Just in case I forgot I was in Africa . . .
those are sheep that were on the school campus

A shack located near the school. 

 Scott and I got to teach a class that did not have a teacher.  The lesson was about prefixes and suffixes and the 9th grade students were really trying and appeared to really enjoy the lesson.   There is no doubt that many students want to learn but unfortunately, they are not in the best environment for that.  Many times students end up teaching themselves because of the educational situation they find themselves in often.  If this continues and nothing is done South Africa is going to have an even greater education problem on their hands.

Students walking home from school

Honestly, at the end of the day I was exhausted from being at the school and dealing with the teachers and the conditions. I know I have painted an awful picture of this school but this is the case in many townships and poor cities throughout South Africa and much is not improving because teachers, educators, the government, and the parents are not really working to change things.  It is upsetting to see students being subjected to this on a daily basis and have no outlet in which to know better.  I just felt that I needed to share my experience because this just put education in South Africa as well as globally in a whole new perspective.